You Don’t Know Jacktag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-18863252011-03-25T14:38:42-06:00TypePadDear Apple, Can’t I Just Turn This Feature Off?!?!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b014e601bebb1970c2011-03-25T14:38:42-06:002011-03-25T14:40:14-06:00If you're a programmer or designer, we know you love new features. The problem is that not everyone loves new features as much as you do. It's important to give the end user control over such features, so they can use them at their own discretion. Take, for example, my 2-year old iPod Nano: Not actually my iPod Nano The Nano has a built-in feature that pauses audio playback if the headphones are unexpectedly ripped out of the headphone jack. All fine and dandy, except for some reason my iPod likes to think the adapter in my car pulls out...Jack Adams

If you're a programmer or designer, we know you love new features. The problem is that not everyone loves new features as much as you do. It's important to give the end user control over such features, so they can use them at their own discretion.

Take, for example, my 2-year old iPod Nano:

Not actually my iPod Nano

The Nano has a built-in feature that pauses audio playback if the headphones are unexpectedly ripped out of the headphone jack. All fine and dandy, except for some reason my iPod likes to think the adapter in my car pulls out the plug several times per minute. As such, I'll be driving along and the iPod will suddenly pause. I'll press play, and a few second later it will pause again. Repeat until the limit approaches insanity.

Now, the situation wouldn't be so bad if I could simply turn off this feature. But I can't. There is no way whatsoever to turn off the auto pause. The fact that I have no control over this feature is more rage inducing than the disfunctionality of the feature itself. Even though this only happens when I drive, one simple On/Off option in the settings menu would alleviate all of this trouble.

So take a lesson from Apple's failure. Give your users control over your devices and applications by making new features optional.

Windward Reports – Java and .NET Reporting Engines Developers Liketag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b0147e348f681970b2011-03-17T12:25:58-06:002011-03-17T12:26:39-06:00Here at Windward, we like to think we know software developers. The company was founded by a software developer, the company is development driven, and we owe our success as a company to the success of our software. That's why, when it came to design the Windward .NET Reporting Engine and Java Reporting Engine more than 7 years ago, David Thielen took an entirely new approach. Used to fighting overly complicated APIs, Dave decided it was time for something new. An experienced Java and .NET programmer, he realized just how much easier it is to import libraries for calling outside...Jack Adams

Here at Windward, we like to think we know software developers. The company was founded by a software developer, the company is development driven, and we owe our success as a company to the success of our software. That's why, when it came to design the Windward .NET Reporting Engine and Java Reporting Engine more than 7 years ago, David Thielen took an entirely new approach.

Used to fighting overly complicated APIs, Dave decided it was time for something new. An experienced Java and .NET programmer, he realized just how much easier it is to import libraries for calling outside code than it is to wrestle obtrusive APIs. It was then Dave built his own code to function as libraries programmers can import into their code to directly call the powerful Windward Engines.

Windward Reports – Saving Monitors Since 2004

And you know what? Programmers love it. Most can encompass the entire Engine functionality into their own projects with as little as three lines of code. This opens the door to an entirely new programming paradigm – no longer must developers building highly complex applications fight to fit an API into their own application. With the Windward alternative approach, end projects are no longer limited by the capabilities of reporting add-ons.

On top of that, the Windward Engines are some of the fastest in the game, thanks largely to their simplicity. On their own or in customer applications, these engines can crank out thousands or even millions of reports every single day if need be. Plug a Windward Engine into your own app for reporting, document generation, or mail merge, and you'll be slacking off at your desk in no time.

So remember folks, no matter what you're working on the age-old adage of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) can always help you out. The best and most thoroughly designed product in the world is useless if no one can figure out how to use it in the first place.

Why Data Management Matters From The Starttag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b014e5fc02788970c2011-03-09T12:16:31-07:002011-03-09T12:16:58-07:00It never fails, a business process as sure as the sunrise. As we're a reporting software company, the number one reason people come to us is to get a reporting product so they can sort through their massive amounts of data and turn it into reports, charts, graphs, and dashboards for reporting, document generation, mail merge, and everything in between. And this is where the fun begins. One thing no one thinks about when starting their company is how to store their data. Sure, most make a few Excel documents or setup some SQL Servers, but it's amazing how fast...Jack Adams

It never fails, a business process as sure as the sunrise. As we're a reporting software company, the number one reason people come to us is to get a reporting product so they can sort through their massive amounts of data and turn it into reports, charts, graphs, and dashboards for reporting, document generation, mail merge, and everything in between. And this is where the fun begins.

One thing no one thinks about when starting their company is how to store their data. Sure, most make a few Excel documents or setup some SQL Servers, but it's amazing how fast data piles up and how fast spreadsheets get packed on top of one another and how fast Servers are filled, added to, copied over, and rewritten all without a sense of what you might have to go through one day to get that data out. Add on top of that a lack of naming conventions and even consistent data entry and you'll find yourself with a database nigh unusable.

The fun really begins when someone tries to create reports, charts, or dashboards out of a data set like that. Nothing makes sense. This is why reporting is often considered a technical task, because it requires a very thorough understanding of how the data is stored and structured. Couple this with query languages and select statements, and you've got yourself something no casual user would ever want to tackle.

I can't stress enough the importance of properly storing data from the beginning. It may be the last thing on your mind, but you'll be kicking yourself months or years down the road when you have to go back and do what you should have done in the beginning. Do yourself a favor and setup some data management standards from the start.

Five Years Latertag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b014e5f6ab329970c2011-02-23T11:59:52-07:002011-02-23T12:01:55-07:00I can't believe it's gone by as fast as it has, but this May I'll be graduating college with a Computer Science degree and an Entrepreneurial Management certificate. Five long years of homework, exams, projects, quizzes, tests, work, and no sleep is almost at an end. Aside from what I've learned in school, I've also learned a lot about life, people, and personal happiness. So, even though it might not make much difference now, I thought it would be fun to compile my list of the top things I wish I knew when I started school. Do your freaking homework....Jack Adams

I can't believe it's gone by as fast as it has, but this May I'll be graduating college with a Computer Science degree and an Entrepreneurial Management certificate. Five long years of homework, exams, projects, quizzes, tests, work, and no sleep is almost at an end. Aside from what I've learned in school, I've also learned a lot about life, people, and personal happiness. So, even though it might not make much difference now, I thought it would be fun to compile my list of the top things I wish I knew when I started school.

Do your freaking homework. Seriously, it's far more about time management than it is hard work. Of course prereqs like Calc and Writing aren't too much fun, but just get them out of the way and enjoy the rest of your day.

Put yourself out there. I didn't really start doing this one myself until a year or two into school, but take advantage of everything that's available to you. Talks on campus, meet and greets with companies, free movies, free food, and everything else you can imagine. There's never a shortage of interesting things to do on a college campus.

Understand that Computer Science != Software Engineering. This one is of course particular to Comp Sci majors, but I really wish I'd known this for the first few years in school. Even though CU really likes to emphasize Software Engineering for their Comp Sci students, you can get away from all of it after two years in the program. After that, you get to take even more fun classes like Computational Theory, Human Centered Computing, UI Design, and Numerical Analysis!

Take electives you're interested in. They make you take them anyway, so you might as well pick something you like. The Philosophy, Econ, Geology, and Business courses I took were some of my favorites.

Don't sweat the small stuff. This one will serve you well not just in college, but for the rest of your adult life as well. We all get stressed out, irritated at stupid things, and flat out angry for no reason. Here's a trick I've learned: separate yourself from everything for 15 minutes, go over things in your head, and realize that the world ain't such a bad place after all. Even when you aren't stressed, laying down on your bed with the door closed and lights off for 15 minutes a day and just unplugging yourself from everything can really help you mull things over.

Have fun! Four (or in my case five) years will go by unimagionably fast. Make some great friends, have some crazy nights, and live life without regrets.

Well, that's about all I can think of for now. Even though past-me won't get much benefit from it, maybe a young college student halfway through their first year might.

Reporting Software – What’s The Difference?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b0148c7194559970c2010-12-27T15:08:05-07:002010-12-27T15:12:48-07:00In the world of Enterprise Reporting Software, it's easy to get confused. That's why I'm here, to help you sort through the massive amount of Enterprise Reporting Solutions out there to help you find the best one for you. In reality, every Reporting Software Package walks users through the same four step process in order to create reports. These four steps are: Datasource Connection Data Selection Report Design Report Generation Now, if you've used any kind of Reporting Software before, you'll know that there's not much difference in the first two steps. So with that in mind, it's pretty clear...Jack Adams

In the world of Enterprise Reporting Software, it's easy to get confused. That's why I'm here, to help you sort through the massive amount of Enterprise Reporting Solutions out there to help you find the best one for you.

In reality, every Reporting Software Package walks users through the same four step process in order to create reports. These four steps are:

Datasource Connection

Data Selection

Report Design

Report Generation

Now, if you've used any kind of Reporting Software before, you'll know that there's not much difference in the first two steps. So with that in mind, it's pretty clear that the deal maker/breaker comes in the last two stages: Report Design and Report Generation.

And that's where Windward Reports comes through as the clear winner. As far as Report Design is concerned, Windward's AutoTag is miles ahead of everyone else.

AutoTag let's you design in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Unlike banded designers such as Crystal and Pentaho, AutoTag let's you place your data anywhere in your report you'd like. AutoTag in Excel maintains all its original functionality, meaning you can create charts, graphs, and even use functions like SUM() and MAX() just like you would with Excel data.

When it comes time to generate your reports, AutoTag gives you all of the major export options such as Office formats, PDF, and HTML. If your company uses SharePoint, you can use Windward Arrow to host and distribute your reports to everyone in your company through a convenient web interface.

Once you have all the facts, the choice becomes clear. Those who have used Windward and AutoTag say they'll never go back, and new customers tell us they can't believe they spent so long without it. So what are you waiting for, visit the Windward Reports website and download the free demo for yourself.

The Importance of Document Generationtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b0133f5550af5970b2010-10-25T10:18:00-06:002010-10-25T10:18:44-06:00Whether you know it or not, there's almost a 100% chance your company needs Document Generation. If you work in the healthcare, insurance, finance, energy industries or for the government there's a 100% guarantee that you need Document Generation. What is Document Generation? There is no strict definition, not even on Wikipedia (maybe I should go add one). But to me, Document Generation is the process of creating hundreds, thousands, or even millions of personalized and distinct documents for internal or external use from a single template. "How is this possible!?!?!?" you may be asking. Great question! All reporting software...Jack Adams

Whether you know it or not, there's almost a 100% chance your company needs Document Generation. If you work in the healthcare, insurance, finance, energy industries or for the government there's a 100% guarantee that you need Document Generation.

What is Document Generation? There is no strict definition, not even on Wikipedia (maybe I should go add one). But to me, Document Generation is the process of creating hundreds, thousands, or even millions of personalized and distinct documents for internal or external use from a single template. "How is this possible!?!?!?" you may be asking. Great question!

All reporting software products are capable of Document Generation, but some excel at it moreso than others. In fact, I think Document Generation is one of AutoTag's strongest functions. With its free form design capabilities in Word and Excel, you can quickly create templates for insurance customer invoices, personal financial statements, and energy usage reports. Once the templates have been designed and properly tagged, a single click will rev up the powerful Windward Reporting Engines and create a unique document for every single corresponding entry inside your database. It really doesn't get any simpler.

You could easily spend hours inside a banded report designer and not get results like you would with AutoTag in 20 minutes. There's definitely a reason why our Customers chose us over our competitors.

Macs are bad ‘cause they’re expensive, right?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b0134874bd580970c2010-09-13T10:51:06-06:002010-09-15T08:53:00-06:00The other day a coworker forwarded this screenshot around the office (click for larger size): It made me rage a little bit, especially considering how loyal of a Mac user I am. Here's a summary of the key points made above, and their rebuttals: Most importantly: This is last year's Mac Pro Build yet it's compared it to current prices. This is the Mac Pro released in March 2009. So when you complain about prices, think about them in March 2009 terms, cause that's when this screenshot was taken. You cannot run OS X on any PC. Hackintosh installs are...Jack Adams
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The other day a coworker forwarded this screenshot around the office (click for larger size):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thenextweb.com/apple/files/2010/09/mac01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogs.windwardreports.com/.a/6a0115711bf0ae970b0134874bf720970c-pi" border="0" alt="" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It made me rage a little bit, especially considering how loyal of a Mac user I am. Here's a summary of the key points made above, and their rebuttals: </span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div>
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<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Most importantly:&nbsp;<strong>This is last year's Mac Pro Build</strong>&nbsp;yet it's compared it to current prices. This is the Mac Pro released in March 2009. So when you complain about prices, think about them in March 2009 terms, cause that's when this screenshot was taken.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">You cannot run OS X on&nbsp;<em>any</em>&nbsp;PC. Hackintosh installs are not as easy as it seems. Apple only writes drivers for hardware they support. That's not so bad, it's possible to write drivers for most devices that have open source drivers already written... but they also only use half of a mangled version of the ACPI standard, meaning that even on the most vanilla-ready hardware, CPU fan control, sleep, and hibernate probably won't all work properly. Most people have trouble with non-ATI video cards, audio hardware, PS/2 hardware, and ACPI.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">In March 2009, jumping from 2.26ghz to 2.66ghz CPU was a major increase in cost. What's more, most PC manufacturers do this kind of price hike on CPU boosts too. For Dell, it has to do with the manufacturing process - the boxes arrive pre-assembled, and different CPU means someone has to swap it out.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">The RAM is ECC RAM. That's expensive even when you're buying parts. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">The RAID card is an SAS RAID card with 512mb cache and a 72 hour integrated battery for said cache. You can get cheapo SAS raid cards for as cheap as $150, but with this much cache, a battery backup, PCIex8, and 800mhz throughput the cards start around $650&nbsp;<em>today</em>. The Apple card is about equivalent to the Areca ARC-1880i, current retail price about $650.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">The hard drives are when we really see the data storage cost of March 2009. At the time, retail cost-per-gb of 7200RPM SATA storage was about 25c/gb. Suddenly the price doesn't seem so out there. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">The numbers on the video cards and the "superdrive" are just out of date. In summer 2010 you can get DVD burners for $25. Winter 2009 we got DVD burners for $75-$100.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">The screen was one of the top quality available in terms of responsiveness, brightness, color accuracy, and size. It is still an impressive monitor - it's just not a direct comparison to the cheapest 24" you can buy on Newegg.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">OF COURSE they overprice MS Office, Apple has their own line of office products they're trying to sell... and in case the poster didn't notice, Microsoft is Apple's COMPETITION.</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
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</tbody>
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</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Of course most Mac users don't buy Mac Pros for simple web surfing and email, that's what iMacs are for and they do a damn good job at it. These computers are for professionals. Music producers, video editors, graphic designers, and serious scientific researchers use Macs. Why? They need their computers to work. If you're given a large budget and are expected to give professional results, you aren't going to skimp on your computer to save a few hundred bucks. Plus they retain their value, I can look on Craigslist right now and find a four-year-old Mac Pro selling for $800+.</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Saying a high price is no reason to buy is like saying you shouldn't buy a BMW or Mercedes because Kias and Hyundais are cheaper. As my fellow Mac-loving coworker puts it, "I'd hate to have dinner with the guy who wrote this article - he probably drinks boxed wine, and eats hot dogs with ramen."</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">As an amateur DJ, I own a Macbook for music production and performance. Sure, it was more expensive than a PC, but the cost of the software and equipment I use with it far exceed the cost of the original computer. And you know what? I've never had a single problem with it. It's never frozen, locked up, had a failed part Apple didn't fix, or had any software problems that weren't my own fault.</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Call me a mindless fanboy if you will, but it won't change the fact that I love my Mac. Of course this wouldn't be a legitimate argument without considering the alternative, so I welcome you to <a href="http://blogs.windwardreports.com/matta/">read a response from one of my Windows-loving coworkers</a>.</span></p></div>
Great Enterprise Reporting Software, or Greatest Enterprise Reporting Software?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b0133f3222a64970b2010-08-17T15:12:52-06:002010-08-17T15:45:58-06:00Here at Windward Reports we like to think we make some pretty kickass Enterprise Reporting Software. So much so in fact that we think we're the best in the industry. Quite a bold statement, so let me back it up. I mean, this is pretty kickass. Reasons why Windward's Enterprise Reporting Software Kicks Ass: Our Report Designer AutoTag operates in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint so you don't have to create reports in a horrid interface like Crystal Reports or SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) AutoTag is the most fluid report designer. If you've used any of our Competing Products, you'll...Jack Adams

Here at Windward Reports we like to think we make some pretty kickass Enterprise Reporting Software. So much so in fact that we think we're the best in the industry. Quite a bold statement, so let me back it up.

I mean, this is pretty kickass.

Reasons why Windward's Enterprise Reporting Software Kicks Ass:

Our Report Designer AutoTag operates in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint so you don't have to create reports in a horrid interface like Crystal Reports or SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)

AutoTag is the most fluid report designer. If you've used any of our Competing Products, you'll catch on to AutoTag in no time and create better looking reports faster than you ever did before

Our Reporting Engines are fast. Just how fast? I created and generated similar reports with AutoTag and SSRS, with AutoTag taking about half the time to create a 14,000 page PDF (yeah, that's a REALLY big PDF)

Our Sales Team rocks. Seriously, who wouldn't want to talk to someone who can go a full day doing a Yoda impression?

I do not own this image. Please do not sue me.

Quirkiness aside, I've used quite a few of our competing products and AutoTag just feels right. I find it humorous that Crystal and SSRS release versions of their software that look similar to MS Office, but they'll never beat us as we actually work inside Office. Complicated Report, Page, and Table headers are made easy in Word and Formula and Expression Editors are beaten to a pulp by Excel. You can even create awesome charts and dashboards for your presentations directly inside PowerPoint.

If you still aren't convinced, I dare you to check out the Free Trial of AutoTag. Use it for a week and you'll be ready to make the switch, I guarantee it.

My (Fake) Review of Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b0133eccc41aa970b2010-04-19T16:19:01-06:002010-04-20T10:09:32-06:00I was recently required at work to read the book Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. I must admit that under the surmounting pressure of all the reading I'm supposed to do (and of course don't do) for school I haven't had time to read the book. However, considering my knowledge of several other business books I've read I thought it would be fun to write a review about the book without actually reading it (strikingly similar to every literary essay I've ever written). Thus, I present to you my (fake) review of Rework: Rework is short and...Jack Adams

I was recently required at work to read the book Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. I must admit that under the surmounting pressure of all the reading I'm supposed to do (and of course don't do) for school I haven't had time to read the book. However, considering my knowledge of several other business books I've read I thought it would be fun to write a review about the book without actually reading it (strikingly similar to every literary essay I've ever written). Thus, I present to you my (fake) review of Rework:

Rework is short and to the point, much like another book I reviewed. It skims over a few examples from the company the authors work for and provides tips from the lessons they've learned. There is some valuable information in this book, but it's buried deep beneath a lot of other tips and lessons I've learned from countless other books, blogs, and articles.

One of the central themes in Rework is to work smarter, not harder. This entails everything from not spending more time than necessary on projects to limiting the time you spend in company meetings. One of the golden rules in software engineering is to not "reinvent the wheel", a quote that resonates well after reading Rework.

It works. Move on now plz

We've implemented a few of the ideas found in Rework in the office. Here are my thoughts on two of them:

Timing meetings. I think it's important to keep your meetings short and relevant, but if people are on a roll I see no sense in cutting them off just because a timer ran out.

No distractions work time. Should work great in theory, except as an intern when I come in to the office 30 minutes into "no distractions work time" I get to sit around for an hour and a half until I can actually talk to my boss.

While I do think Rework was an overall good book and has many applications to the business world, I personally feel it could have brought more to the table. Real world examples go a long way, and without evidence your strategies work you're just preaching to the choir. I also found it humorous that the book encourages us to stay on our feet and move at the speed of light, while they also expect you to set aside a few hours of your valuable time in order to get through the book. All in all I would recommend giving it a read, but don't expect its lessons to turn your business around overnight.

In the end I think you could say I practice what Rework teaches better than most. Rather than spending time reading the book to learn how to avoid work, I was already one step ahead by not even reading the book at all. Maybe I should write a book…

Have you read Rework? Think I'm dead-on or totally off my rocker? Sound off in the comments.

Reasons Why My Internship Might Be Better Than Yours - #1tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0115711bf0ae970b01347fbebeac970c2010-04-08T18:45:50-06:002010-04-08T18:50:18-06:00Reason #1 – I got to play with a Lite Brite today. It's supposed to be a lock and a red check mark, which is meant to remind my boss to check in files to the repository after working on them. One of my coworkers told me it looked like a purse – weak. Either way, I bet YOU didn't get to play with a Lite Brite at work today. This is the first blog in a series I like to call "Reasons Why My Internship Might Be Better Than Yours" which includes short blogs about why my internship kicks...Jack Adams

Reason #1 – I got to play with a Lite Brite today.

It's supposed to be a lock and a red check mark, which is meant to remind my boss to check in files to the repository after working on them. One of my coworkers told me it looked like a purse – weak.

Either way, I bet YOU didn't get to play with a Lite Brite at work today.

This is the first blog in a series I like to call "Reasons Why My Internship Might Be Better Than Yours" which includes short blogs about why my internship kicks ass.